Ricky Scott Taylor (born August 3, 1989) is an American professional racing driver, most notably in the

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...

. His career highlights include an IMSA Series Championship in 2017, as well as marquee wins at the Daytona 24, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. In 2017, he, along with his brother Jordan, won the

2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship) was the 47th season of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) GT Championship that traces its lineage to the 19 ...

in the Prototype class with 5 wins. In 2018, Taylor left his father's team,

Wayne Taylor Racing Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR) is a sports car racing team that was founded in 2004 by racing driver Wayne Taylor. From 2023 to 2025, the team had a partnership with Andretti Global, Andretti Autosport that also saw them rebrand as Wayne Taylor Raci ...

, to join the new Acura Team Penske Prototype squad in 2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, partnering with

Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He competes part-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 06 Dallara-Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. He is one of four drivers to have w ...

for the full season. In 2020 he and codriver Castroneves won the

2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The 2020 IMSA SportsCar Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship) was the 50th racing season sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) (which traces its lineage back t ...

. He returned to his father's team in 2021. Taylor was also runner-up in the Grand-Am

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

Daytona Prototype class in 2010 and 2011. Within that category, he earned seven wins and 20 podiums. He was also second in the 2014 24 Hours of Daytona and fifth in 2008, 2011, and

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Early years

Taylor's father, Wayne, was a driver in the

IMSA GT Championship IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada. History The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill ...

in the 1990s, so Ricky and brother

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

grew up in Florida. After competing in karting, Ricky was series champion of single seaters' school Skip Barber Southern in 2006 and runner-up of Skip Barber National in 2007. In 2008, Taylor debuted in the 24 Hours of Daytona for the Grand-Am series with a Riley-Pontiac in the Daytona Prototype class for

, resulting fifth with

Max Angelelli Massimiliano Angelelli (born 15 December 1966) is a retired Italian racecar driver. He won the 2005 and 2017 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2001 Six Hours at the Glen. Also he was the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series champion in 2005 and 2013, as ...

Michael Valiante Michael Valiante (born November 11, 1979, in New Westminster, British Columbia) is a Canadian racing driver. Formula racing Valiante began racing in karting where his success earned him a full-season scholarship in the Skip Barber 2.0 Serie ...

, and his father Wayne Taylor. Months later, contested the Virginia round with the Beyer team, accompanied by Andy Wallace and Jared Beyer. Later, Taylor joined Doran's team to participate in the final six races of the season with a Dallara-Ford, earning a fifth-place finish with Burt Frisselle. Taylor became a regular driver for Beyer in the 2009 season of the Grand-Am series, using first a Riley-Pontiac and then a Riley-Chevrolet. He earned a fourth, an eighth, and a ninth-place finish in the last three races to finish 18th in the drivers' championship in the Daytona Prototype class.

WTR and Spirit of Daytona

Wayne Taylor hired Ricky to contest the 2010 Rolex Sports Car Series with a Dallara-Ford. Accompanied by

, he captured one win and seven podiums and sixth place in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He finished second in the drivers' championships and teams in the DP class, behind

Scott Pruett Scott Donald Pruett (born March 24, 1960) is an American former racing driver who has competed in numerous disciplines of the sport. In the 1980s, Pruett established himself as a top sports car racer, winning two IMSA GTO, and three Trans-Am ...

and

Memo Rojas Guillermo "Memo" Rojas Jr. (born August 18, 1981) is a Mexican former race car driver. Successful in American sports car racing, Rojas is a four-time series champion in the Rolex Sports Car Series, a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, ...

and his nine victories. In the

2011 Rolex Sports Car Series season The 2011 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the twelfth season of Grand-Am's premier series.The season began with the Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 29 and finished with the EMCO Gears Classic at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on September 17 ...

, Taylor was behind the wheel of a Dallara-Chevrolet. He scored three victories (one of them in the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen) and eight podium finishes, and a fifth place in the 24 Hours of Daytona. As a result, he finished as runner-up in the DP class behind Pruett and Rojas again. Adopting new Chevrolet Corvette DP in 2012, Taylor recorded three wins and seven top 5s in 12 appearances. He finished seventh in the driver standings and fifth among the teams in the DP class. Later, he contested the

Gold Coast 600 The Gold Coast 500 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Boost Mobile (Australia), Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars Championship, Supercars, held at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Surfers Parad ...

of V8 Supercars in a Holden Commodore from

Garry Rogers Motorsport Garry Rogers Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team. It is owned by retired racing driver Garry Rogers who began the team to further his own racing efforts. Based in Melbourne, originally out of a Nissan dealership owned by Rogers, the t ...

alongside

Greg Ritter Gregory James Ritter (born 20 February 1973, in Victoria) is an Australian racing driver. He was the winner of the 1999 Australian Formula Ford Championship. and shared the winning drive at the 2004 Betta Electrical 500. Career results Co ...

; however, he had a frightening rollover several hundred metres after the start whilst trying to avoid two stricken cars. Taylor became a driver in the

Spirit of Daytona Racing Spirit of Daytona Racing (known as Visit Florida Racing from 2015 to 2018) was an auto racing team that competed last in the International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Class with the No. 90 Cadillac ...

for the 2013 Rolex Sports Car Series season, teaming with

Richard Westbrook Richard Westbrook (born 10 July 1975) is a British professional racing driver noted for his success in racing Porsche and International sports cars. As a junior, he attended St Joseph's College, Ipswich. He has won both the Porsche Supercup in ...

. He earned a third place, three fifths, and a sixth, finishing 11th in the drivers championship and eighth among teams in the DP. He also obtained a fifth place in the GTE-Am class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving a Chevrolet Corvette in the Larbre Competition.

Team Penske

Beginning with the 2018 Roar Before the 24, Taylor partnered with Helio Castroneves in one of two new Acura ARX-05s fielded by Roger Penske. Taylor and Castroneves won the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar DPi Drivers' Championship, after finishing 8th at the season finale at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Other competition

In 2012, Taylor was selected by

to participate in the 2012 Armor All Gold Coast 600 event for

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

as an "international" co-driver. In his first-ever standing start, he managed only 200m before he rolled over a car that had stalled on the grid, totalling his #33

Holden VE Commodore The Holden Commodore (VE) is a full-size car that was produced from 2006 to 2013 by Holden, the former Australian subsidiary of General Motors. Dubbed Holden's "billion dollar baby", the car was available as the Holden Berlina—the mid-rang ...

and resigning himself and team-mate

to the sidelines for the rest of the weekend.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Rolex Sports Car Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

‡13th in LMP2. Fourth in LMP2 Pro-Am.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key)(Races in bold indicate pole position) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete European Le Mans Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* *
Ricky Taylor in Race Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Ricky 1989 births Living people 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Supercars Championship drivers Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers Sportspeople from Surrey WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers Team Penske drivers American people of South African descent Corvette Racing drivers Larbre Compétition drivers Wayne Taylor Racing drivers DragonSpeed drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Jota Sport drivers Garry Rogers Motorsport drivers Andretti Autosport drivers TDS Racing drivers Cool Racing drivers